- The Colbert Report- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien
- The Late Show with David Letterman
- Real Time with Bill Maher

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

- Christopher Meloni for playing Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Denis Leary for playing Tommy Gavin on Rescue Me
- Peter Krause for playing Nate Fisher on Six Feet Under- Kiefer Sutherland for playing Jack Bauer on 24
- Martin Sheen for playing Josiah Bartlet on The West Wing

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

- Steve Carell for playing Michael Scott on The Office
- Larry David for playing himself on Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Kevin James for playing Doug Heffernan on The King of Queens- Tony Shalhoub for playing Adrian Monk on Monk
- Charlie Sheen for playing Charlie Harper on Two and a Half Men

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

- Andre Braugher for playing Nick Atwater on Thief
- Charles Dance for playing Mr. Tulkinghorn on Bleak House
- Ben Kingsley for playing Herman Tarnower on Mrs. Harris
- Donald Sutherland for playing Bill Meehan on Human Trafficking
- Jon Voight for playing Pope John Paul II on Pope John Paul II

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

- Allison Janney for playing C.J. Cregg on The West Wing
- Geena Davis for playing Mackenzie Allen on Commander in Chief
- Frances Conroy for playing Ruth Fisher on Six Feet Under
- Kyra Sedgwick for playing Brenda Johnson on The Closer- Mariska Hargitay for playing Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

- Stockard Channing for playing Lydia Barnes on Out of Practice
- Jane Kaczmarek for playing Lois on Malcolm in the Middle
- Lisa Kudrow for playing Valerie Cherish on The Comeback
- Debra Messing for playing Grace Adler on Will & Grace- Julia Louis-Dreyfus for playing Christine Campbell on The New Adventures of Old Christine

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie

- Gillian Anderson for playing Lady Dedlock in Bleak House
- Kathy Bates for playing Jane Stern in Ambulance Girl
- Annette Bening for playing Jean Harris in Mrs. Harris
- Judy Davis for playing Sante Kimes in A Little Thing Called Murder- Helen Mirren for playing Elizabeth I in Elizabeth I

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

- William Shatner for playing Denny Crane on Boston Legal
- Oliver Platt for playing Russell Tupper on Huff
- Michael Imperioli for playing Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos
- Gregory Itzin for playing Charles Logan on 24- Alan Alda for playing Arnold Vinick on The West Wing

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

- Will Arnett for playing Gob Bluth on Arrested Development- Jeremy Piven for playing Ari Gold on Entourage
- Bryan Cranston for playing Hal on Malcolm in the Middle
- Jon Cryer for playing Alan Harper on Two and a Half Men
- Sean Hayes for playing Jack McFarland on Will & Grace

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

- Robert Carlyle for playing Sergei Karpovich in Human Trafficking
- Clifton Collins Jr. for playing Jack Hill in Thief
- Hugh Dancy for playing Earl of Essex in Elizabeth I- Jeremy Irons for playing Earl of Leicester in Elizabeth I
- Denis Lawson for playing John Jarndyce in Bleak House

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

- Candice Bergen for playing Shirley Schmidt on Boston Legal
- Sandra Oh for playing Cristina Yang on Grey's Anatomy
- Chandra Wilson for playing Miranda Bailey on Grey's Anatomy- Blythe Danner for playing Izzy Huffstodt on Huff
- Jean Smart for playing Martha Logan on 24

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

- Cheryl Hines for playing Cheryl David on Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Alfre Woodard for playing Betty Applewhite on Desperate Housewives
- Jaime Pressly for playing Joy on My Name Is Earl
- Elizabeth Perkins for playing Celia Hodes on Weeds- Megan Mullally for playing Karen Walker on Will and Grace

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

- Ellen Burstyn for playing Former Tarnower in Mrs. Harris
- Shirley Jones for playing Aunt Batty in Hidden Places
- Cloris Leachman for playing Tarnower's sister in Mrs. Harris- Kelly Macdonald for playing Gina in The Girl in the Cafe
- Alfre Woodard for playing Mrs. Brown in The Water is Wide

- Barry Manilow for Barry Manilow: Music and Passion
- Stephen Colbert for playing Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report
- Craig Ferguson for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
- David Letterman for The Late Show with David Letterman
- Hugh Jackman for The 59th Annual Tony Awards

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

- Rodrigo Garcia for Big Love
- Jack Bender for Lost
- Alan Ball for Six Feet Under
- Tim Van Patten for The Sopranos
- David Nutter for The Sopranos- Jon Cassar for 24
- Mimi Leder for The West Wing

- Shonda Rhimes for Grey's Anatomy (episodes: It's the End of the World and (As We Know It)
- Krista Vernoff for Grey's Anatomy (episode: Into You Like a Train)
- Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof for Lost (episode: The 23rd Psalm)
- Alan Ball for Six Feet Under (episode: Everyone's Waiting)- Terence Winter for The Sopranos (episode: Members Only)

- Andrew Davies for Bleak House
- Nigel Williams for Elizabeth I
- Nevin Schreiner for Flight 93- Richard Curtis for The Girl in the Café
- Phyllis Nagy for Mrs. Harris

Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program

- The Colbert Report- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien
- The Late Show with David Letterman
- Real Time with Bill Maher

Outstanding Animated Program (Less Than One Hour)

- Camp Lazlo for episode "Hello Dolly / Over Cooked Beans"
- Family Guy for episode "PTV"
- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends for episode "Go Goo Go"- The Simpsons for episode "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story"
- South Park for episode "Trapped in the Closet"

Outstanding Voice-Over Performance

- Kelsey Grammer for portraying Sideshow Bob in the episode The Italian Bob

About the Emmys

The Emmy Awards are administered by three sister organisations; the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The Awards recognise excellence within various areas of the television industry, and are a symbol of peer recognition from over 12,000 members of the Academy, where each member casts a ballot for the category of competition in their field of expertise.

The Awards are divided into three categories - The Primetime Awards, The Daytime Awards and the L.A. Area Awards.

Only the Primetime Awards are screened in South Africa, which celebrate excellence in national prime-time programming, awarding top honours during the creative arts awards and the prime-time telecast.

The first Emmy Awards were presented on January 25, 1949 at the Hollywood Athletic Club. The name ''Emmy'' was a feminisation of ''immy'', a nickname used for the image orthicon tubes that were commonplace in early television cameras.

The Emmy Awards trophies are currently made by a private company with a manufacturing site at the maximum security El Dorado Correctional Facility, in El Dorado, Kansas.

The statuette of a winged woman holding an atom has since become the symbol of the TV Academy's goal of supporting and uplifting the art and science of television.

The wings represent the muse of art, and the atom represents the electron of science. It was created by television engineer Louis McManus, using his wife as a model.